Wireless networks transmit and receive information utilizing varying techniques and protocols. For example, but not by way of limitation, two common and widely adopted techniques used for communication are those that adhere to the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards such as the IEEE 802.11n standard, the IEEE 802.11ac standard, the IEEE 802.11ad standard, the IEEE 802.11ah standard, the IEEE 802.11ay standard and the IEEE 802.11ax standard, other current IEEE 802.11 standards.
The IEEE 802.11 standards specify a common Medium Access Control (MAC) Layer which provides a variety of functions that support the operation of IEEE 802.11-based Wireless LANs (WLANs) and devices. The MAC Layer manages and maintains communications between IEEE 802.11 stations (such as between radio network interface cards (NIC) in a PC or other wireless device(s) or stations (STA) and access points (APs)) by coordinating access to a shared radio channel and utilizing protocols that enhance communications over a wireless medium.
Based on 5G studies and objectives, multiple air interfaces will be needed to fulfill the mobile data capacity requirements in the upcoming years. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is planning on defining multiple air interfaces for 5G (for the Internet-of-Things (IoT) interface, post-LTE sub-6 GHz interface, communications, and/or millimeter-wave interface) and on integrating existing 3G and/or 4G interfaces (or spectrum) and Wi-Fi interfaces (or spectrum).
One of the proposed solutions for 5G is multi-band connectivity and/or link aggregation that enables multi-connection and multi-transmission over different bands. Different bands have different air interfaces, operation technology, range/coverage, load, and capacity. Thus, there is a need to optimize the protocol to support and optimize any new multi-band connectivity. Specifically, multi-band operation is suffering from a lack of flexibility for sending control information. This problem is particularly acute for sending acknowledgements because the acknowledgements currently need to be sent on the same air interface as the related data.